The selling of the Smithsonian

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WASHINGTON -- If, God forbid, terrorists were to attack one of the Smithsonian museums on the National Mall, you can be sure that Congress and the president would jump to rebuild it bigger and better than before.They wouldn't tell the Smithsonian, "Go raise your own money."That's as it should be. The 19 world-class museums, nine research centers and National Zoo of the Smithsonian Institution are true national treasures. They make art, science, culture and history accessible to millions while performing topflight research.And yet, "Go raise your own money" is what the president and Congress told the Smithsonian, in effect, when it asked for $2.5 billion to repair deteriorating Smithsonian buildings.Nobody disputes that the buildings are crumbling, that some collections are threatened and access to others has been restricted. But Congress and the president want the Smithsonian to tap other sources to pay the bills. They sent the Smithsonian to the corporate world.Why the double standard? It has to do with priorities and scarce tax dollars. Lawmakers could give up their bridges to nowhere, of course, and President Bush could scale back the Iraq war or other spending. But they've decided that most Americans don't care if the National Mall is commercialized.And so, for the first time, the Smithsonian is inviting public or private developers to renovate a museum on the Mall. The new public-private redevelopment strategy involves the Arts and Industries Building. It sits empty, closed four years ago because of safety concerns over a collapsing roof.Built of polychrome brick in high Victorian style, it opened in 1881 and was the scene of President James Garfield's inaugural ball. Its mission more recently has been a mishmash -- housing artifacts from the 1876 Centennial celebration, a Discovery Theater for children, gift shops and a child-care center for Smithsonian employees.To restore the building to circa-1900 condition -- a shell and roof -- is estimated to cost upward of $60 million. The Smithsonian has invited public and private developers to submit by Jan. 7 their qualifications for renovating it. Those selected will be asked to submit proposals.To be sure, the Smithsonian has set some standards for developers. It warns against anything that detracts from the "dignity" of the Mall -- no "nightclubs or similar commercial entertainment venues, residences, hotels, religious activities or partisan political activities." And, to save the building's face, literally, its original name, "National Museum," which is etched outside, must be kept. It will continue to be the Arts and Industries Building -- and can't be named after anyone or any company. But there can be no doubt this is business. Inside, retail is an option. And, benefactors' names can be used inside.That disgusting modernism -- like naming the National Air and Space Museum Theater after Lockheed Martin -- actually reaches back to James Smithson. The English scientist had never visited the United States, but he left his fortune to its people in 1829 "to found at Washington under the name of the Smithsonian Institution an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge ..."Congress battled for a decade over whether to take Smithson's money and his name. Sen. William Campbell Preston of South Carolina predicted: "Every whippersnapper vagabond ... might think it proper to have his name distinguished in the same way."Since 1858, Congress has made annual appropriations to the Smithsonian to care for the nation's treasures. Taxpayers provide about 70 percent of the operating and capital budget, with the rest coming from a private trust. But increasingly, the Smithsonian has been under pressure to get more corporate sponsors.This has resulted in tight spots. After the Natural History museum solicited a $5 million gift from the American Petroleum Institute for an Oceans Initiative -- including an ocean-life exhibition and endowed chair on marine life -- a member of the Smithsonian Board of Regents last month questioned whether it was appropriate to accept a gift from the industry responsible for oil spills. The petroleum institute withdrew its $5 million.Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Rules Committee chairman, has said involving private developers in the Arts and Industries Building renovation is a promising idea. She has scheduled a hearing this week on the Smithsonian's money problems. That same day, developers will get a look inside the old Arts and Industries Building.(Marsha Mercer is Washington bureau chief of Media General News Service. E-mail mmercer(at)mediageneral.com)(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)